Can my patient die when I don’t think he can?

This is a pretty emotional post of mine as I had a personal tragedy last week. My fufaji ( uncle ) who lived in Kota, Rajasthan had a heart attack last month and underwent successful angioplasty by one of the most reputed cardiologist there. He infact received one of the best medical care in a timely fashion and was safely and happily discharged in 2 days. I also was in touch with his doctors and also reviewed the angiography and angioplasty and everything was fine.

But things don’t always go as you wish. One morning a couple of days back he was in his bank and he had a sudden Cardiac arrest and was carried back by his colleagues in a car to that hospital only to be declared braught dead.

I was in Indore doing angioplasty  of one of my patients when I got frantic call of my cousin and i talked to doctor there but everything was over before any humanly possible intervention. He in all probability had an arrythmia ( abnormal or very fast heart beats ) which proved fatal. 

We cardiologist are so well aware and scared of post MI arrythmias and sudden deaths. But pity for the family of victims who just can not accept the fact that their loved one can just pop off and out of their lives like this. And that too after such assuring treatments and with best drugs and surgeries. But alas we should not forget that we can not act like good and there are limits to concurring disease and death.

One more thing I realized was the utter absence of knowledge of CPR in common people. CPR can be life saving in arrythmic cardiac arrest and can safely bridge the patient till he reaches definite medical care or the care reaches him. Sitting in the greiving of my uncle I  as a cardiologist  have decided to take it as my duty to spread the awareness of CPR  i.e. Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation. I hope I can disseminate the knowledge and skills of this life saving training to my very best capacity.